Duke of Cambridge Prince William presents Dewsbury channel swimmer Eileen Fenton with MBE

Speaking to Eileen Fenton, who received an MBE for voluntary services to swimming, William told her the royals were a “family of swimmers”.

Ms Fenton was 21 when she swam the English channel in 1950, a feat that earned her the admiration of her home town of Dewsbury.

The race was sponsored by the Daily Mail, which paid her £1,000 for her achievement.

Asked what she and Prince William had spoken about, she replied: “Well, we spoke about swimming.

“He said that he and his wife make sure the children can swim and they all go and they swim quite well. I can remember seeing when the Queen was young and her sister Princess Margaret – we used to see them swimming in pictures.

“He said the whole family have done it.”

Ms Fenton, who is now 91, will celebrate the 70th anniversary of her achievement next August.

She was joined at the ceremony by one of her former pupils, Wendy Brook, who broke both the men’s and women’s world records for crossing the English Channel in 1976.

Soprano Mary Bevan, who received an MBE for services to music, said she told William she was impressed with how quietly the orchestra was playing.“He said, ‘Yes, they’re playing some nice tunes, but sometimes I want them to play The Verve’”.